Ireland Fines Google €403 Million Over Location Data GDPR Violations
Summary
Ireland’s DPC fined Google €403 million over GDPR violations involving location data, citing transparency failures and excessive retention. Google must bring its processing into compliance within six months and says it has updated its practices.
Key points
- The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) began its investigation in February 2020 after complaints from consumer rights organizations.
- The investigation covered Web & App Activity, Location History, and Location Accuracy during the period from May 25, 2018, to February 4, 2020.
- The DPC found transparency failures across all three features and said Google retained data collected through Web & App Activity and Location History longer than necessary.
- The DPC imposed fines totaling €403 million and ordered Google to bring its data processing into compliance within six months.
- Google said it had updated its practices and introduced tools to manage location data; it also says Maps Timeline data is stored on devices and automatically deletes data older than three months.
- The DPC had not yet published its full decision.
Article Details
- Event Type
- Regulatory fine for alleged privacy and data-protection violations involving location data processing.
- Impact
- Ireland’s Data Protection Commission fined Google €403 million for GDPR violations related to processing users’ location data. The DPC found transparency failures across Web & App Activity, Location History, and Location Accuracy, and excessive retention through Web & App Activity and Location History. It requires Google to bring its data processing into compliance within six months. Google said it had updated its practices and policies; the DPC had not yet published its full decision.
People
Products
Google Maps TimelineIt can infer visited places, activities, and routes, and displays this information through a private Google Maps Timeline, even when the user is not actively using a Google service.Location AccuracyThree Google features were reviewed: Web & App Activity, Location History, and Location Accuracy.Location HistoryThree Google features were reviewed: Web & App Activity, Location History, and Location Accuracy.Web & App ActivityThree Google features were reviewed: Web & App Activity, Location History, and Location Accuracy.